Starbucks closures, Burger King AI, Olive Garden sales
KFC debuted its new Open House prototype this week outside of Dallas, which was created to accelerate the brand’s U.S. comeback strategy under President Catherine Tan-Gillespie. Conceived after determining the brand is “loved but latent,” Open House serves as a learning lab with a modern design, flexible seating, breakfast, new beverages like boba refreshers and Krunch shakes, catering, and a swag bar. There are also plenty of sauces for customization and snacks served in a “Go Bucket,” as well as signature bone-in chicken, tenders, and sandwiches.
Starbucks is closing more locations. The coffee shop giant said on Thursday that it is closing 250 stores in North America, or about 1% of its units. The company in a note said that the locations are underperforming. It’s the latest in a series of closures at the chain dating to last year, including around 600 closures in 2025.
Burger King is shifting gears on drive-thru AI. During a panel at FSTEC Wednesday, VP of brand technologies Chakri Somisetti said the chain has found that some customers don’t like ordering from a robot. So it is developing a way to make it easier for them to switch to a human order taker if they’d prefer.
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